M101 (First proper Deep sky image)

Hi Guys,

Been a long time since i posted here, Ive been studying Astrohphysics in NUI Galway for the past 4 years and am now going to do a Masters in Astronomy in Groningen in Holland. Can't wait!

Anyhow, as some people here may know, I have had issues with my 6 inch Meade LXD75 with regard to tracking, so I invested in an Orion 80mm Guidescope with an Orion starshoot I bought in Scopes and Space, after a bit of hassle with PHD, I finally got everything working last night and took a few images of M101 (Pinwheel Galaxy) about 20 Million LYs away in Ursa Major.


M101 Image


The focus is a little off and it may be a little over processed but the guiding was excellent. Any advice, tips or criticisms will be much appreciated

Total Exposure time; 40 mins (4 x 10mins)
Darks: 3 X 10 mins,
Equipment: Meade LXD75 6" with a Nikon D80, Guided with an Orion 80mm scope and an Orion Starshoot with PHD.
Processed with Deep sky stacker and a little Photoshopping

Also snapped a few of M81 and M82, not great but i thought id share them anyway

www.flickr.com/photos/123973306@N06/14010203172/

Take the time to get the focus right - it will make a huge difference. This was one of the first things pointed out to me when I got up the courage to post my first pic online. My stars were too 'bloated'. A relatively inexpensive Bathanov Mask helped no end.
One thing I am still learning is that with Deep Sky, the more time one can put in on a subject the better the end result.
As a first (deep sky) Pic - great result. There are so many objects up there to 'get after' I am sure we will see many more from you......looking forward to that and to seeing time & effort paying dividends with ever better shots. It takes time - but well worth it for the satisfaction one gets.

Kinch.

John - is the LXD75 the Schmidt-Newtonian? If so, check the collimation before you concentrate on improving focus.

A couple of flats would also help out your images.

Thanks for posting them.

Hi Dave,

Yep its a SNT, Yeah it looked very good while viewing the stars through the camera but didnt turn out so great when i viewed them. I tried to take a few flats but my settings were all wrong, darks turned out fairly good, next time i will get some descent calibration frames.

Kinch,

I may invest in a Bathanov mask so if you suggest. For so long I was trying to get the guiding sorted and once i got that i was very happy, now i just have to get the hang of settings and calibration frames and focus!
Thanks for the advice lads, really appreciated.

Hi ,
As Dave says, get the collimation right and then get the focus right.
I used the following site to make a custom bahtinov mash for my 12 inch sct,
astrojargon.net/MaskGen.aspx

It took about half an hour to make, this mask makes excellent focusing a simple task, takes out the guess work, I'd consider it an essential part of an imagers setup if you're not focusing using a computer.